Immunological profile of arsenic toxicity: a hint towards arsenic-induced carcinogenesis.

Arsenic (a Group I carcinogen in humans) contamination and poisoning of human populations in different parts of Southeast and Eastern Asia, including West Bengal and Bangladesh, has become a major environmental concern. Arsenic intoxication affects diverse human organs including the lungs, liver, skin, bladder and kidney. This metalloid acts as a promoter of carcinogenesis, exerting toxic effects on the immune system.

Sheep erythrocyte demonstrated better effect than IL-2 and IFN-gamma as biological response modifier against glioma in experimental model.

The significant insights into the immunobiology of central nervous system (CNS) and brain tumor have opened up the feasibility of applying 'Immunotherapy' as an alternative to the poor prognosis of malignant brain tumor with conventional therapeutic approaches. Though cytokines like IL-2 and IFN-gamma used against glioma showed some favorable results by eliciting Th1 type immune response, a proper immunotherapeutic agent is still to be searched for. Sheep erythrocyte (SRBC), a corpuscular antigen showed a better therapeutic efficacy in terms of enhanced survival and augmentation of cell mediated immunity (CMI) in a glioma model developed by chemical carcinogen ethyl nitrosourea.

The first cross sectional survey on intracranial malignancy in Kolkata, India: reflection of the state of the art in southern West Bengal.

Recent increase in the occurrence of intracranial malignancies and poor performance of therapeutic measures have established the disease as an important concern of medical sciences. The lack of information about the disease pattern throughout India creates problems for maintaining community health for prevention. The present study on the hospital population of Kolkata was conducted to determine the incidence pattern of the disease in the population of southern West Bengal, focusing on distribution with age, sex, occupation and religion in different districts of the region, and characterizing diagnostic and therapeutic measures.

Brain tumor inhibition in experimental model by restorative immunotherapy with a corpuscular antigen.

In view of the advances in our understanding of anti-tumor immune response, it is now tempting to contemplate the development of immunotherapies for malignant brain tumors, for which no effective treatment exists. Immunotherapy, with agents known as biological response modifiers (BRMs) are thus gaining increasing interest as the fourth modality of treatment. A non-specific BRM, sheep erythrocytes (SRBC) when administered (ip, 7% PCV/V, 0.

Evaluation of anti-tumor property of specific and non-specific BRMs in experimental gioma by assessing the microglial cell functional and phenotypic modulations.

Background: Microglial cells are considered to be the chief immunomodulatory cells of the brain. These cells play a crucial role against various neurodegenerative diseases. When modulated microglia have been shown to exert a potential anti-tumor immune response against brain neoplasms.

Preclinical Changes in Immunoreactivity and Cellular Architecture during the Progressive Development of Intracranial Neoplasms and an Immunotherapeutic Schedule with a Novel Biological Response Modifier, the T11TS / S-LFA3.

Among neoplasms, brain tumors are particularly " difficult to treat" because of the partial immune privileged status of the brain and the presence of the blood brain barrier (Selmaj, 1996). Many details of progressive development of brain tumors remain unexplored and elucidation of consequent changes of the immune system with correlated cellular architecture and cell kinetics were the major objectives of the present course of investigations. Our studies have indicated that the primary resistance by the immune system to a growing tumor declines after a certain point, resulting in an immune suppressed state in a tumor bearing individual.